Origin of the Puddingstone

Determining what to name my blog began with a little bit of research on the web about puddingstones. Being a Yooper, I was thrilled to find some information at http://www.dayooper.com/Puddingstones.htm

Da Yooper's Guide to

PuddingStones

The Michigan Puddingstone is a conglomerate of primarily quartzite and pebbles of jasper. The pudding stone pebbles vary in color from red to brown and pink to purple. Pudding stones are considered metamorphic and sedimentary. Pudding stone minerals contained within the rock may also vary. In some puddingstones minerals such as chromites, corundum, platinum, diamonds, gold, sapphire, and zircon have been found. Tightly cemented puddingstones make great ornamental stones when cut and polished properly.

Michigan Puddingstones were formed a billion years ago in northeast Canada. Puddingstone is a type of sedimentary rock which first formed in river channels. During the Ice Age, they were pushed down through Eastern Michigan from Ontario Canada by the glaciers. The white is quartz sand which has cemented itself together over millions of years. Mixed with it is a combination of other pebbles and stones of various sizes, shapes and colors. Some may even contain fossils. Another name for puddingstone is quartz conglomerate, meaning sedimentary rock composed of quartz and various other minerals.

Puddingstone is ideal for the hobbyist. It can be tumbled to make wonderful key chains, necklaces and other small items. The larger pieces can be cut, polished and made into book ends, lamp shades, clocks, fountains and just about anything else you can think of.

Hunt for Puddingstones in Michigan on the far Eastern End of the Upper Peninsula and the Northeast part of the Lower Peninsula. In Canada look on St. Joseph's Island and the surrounding areas.

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And then, of course, Wikipedia is another source of information.

The picture of the Hertfordshire puddingstone will serve to represent my adventure into blogging. Each small chunk added to the mix over time can develop into something substantial, not necessarily pretty, but potentially interesting to someone somewhere.

Puddingstone (rock)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Puddingstone, or Pudding stone, is a conglomerate rock made up of a mixture of different, irregular sized grains and pebbles held together by a finer matrix, usually formed from quartz sand. The sedimentary rock is formed in river channels and may contain various minerals such as chromite, corundum, platinum, diamond, gold, sapphire, and zircon. Its name is said to derive from a resemblance to Christmas pudding.^{[1] [2]}

There are different types of puddingstone, with different makeup and geographical distribution. These include:

• Hertfordshire puddingstone, principally found in Hertfordshire, England
• Bearfort Mountain puddingstone, is a purple puddingstone found in northern New Jersey
• Roxbury puddingstone, principally found in and around Boston, Massachusetts
• Plumstead Common has a fine example of puddingstone, probably left behind after the last Ice Age
• St. Joseph Island puddingstone, found in the St. Mary's River area of Northern Ontario contains red and brown pieces of jasper, a kind of quartz.